Seasonality of Causes of Death

Many causes of death have a clear seasonal pattern. Circulatory and respiratory diseases, which comprise about half of all deaths, have a peak in winter and lowest mortality during summer. Data by cause of death, age, and calendar time (month and year) provided by the National Center for Health Statistics allow an analysis how seasonality has changed over age and time. Using a two-dimensional decomposition and smoothing approach, we show how the amplitude and the phase of selected causes of death have developed since the late 1950s.